"Let's go after them, father," said John, unwilling to let this chance slip.
The four set off stealthily to stalk the beasts, and after an hour's fatiguing march over rough ground, saw them standing together at the edge of a patch of bush just beyond range. Bending low, and taking advantage of every tree and tussock of grass, and a tall ant-hill, for cover, the two Englishmen drew nearer and nearer, and were on the point of lifting their rifles to fire, when the animals disappeared into the bush. There was nothing for it but to begin the stalking again. They cautiously made the circuit of the bush, and presently saw the lions emerge from the further end and continue their promenade. Again the hunters followed them, at one moment flattering themselves that a few yards further would bring them within range, the next chagrined to perceive that the lions had quickened their pace and outdistanced them. At length, when a thin patch of woodland enabled them to hurry their steps and gave hope of overtaking their quarry, the lions broke into a trot and soon disappeared from view.
"Well, if that isn't disgusting!" exclaimed John,
"How long have we been at this game, do you think?" asked his father.
"Two or three hours, perhaps."
"Five hours and a half, my boy, and I rather think we might have been better employed."
John was too much disgusted at the failure of his first lion-hunt to say any more; and when next morning it was found that one of the best cows had been stolen he was still more angry.
"We must put a stop to this, father," he said. "Can't we set a trap?"
"We'll see what our friend Bill says," replied Mr. Halliday. The Wanderobbo's name had proved so unpronounceable that he had been called Bill for short. Bill, however, said that lions were too clever to be caught in traps, which did not seem improbable when he explained what he meant by a trap--a simple pit with a sharpened stick at the bottom, like that in which Oliver Browne had been found, or a spear suspended from the branch of a tree and brought down by the animal treading on a rope. Mr. Halliday set to work to devise a more effective machine.
He got the mistris to cut several stout logs, out of which they constructed a sort of gigantic rat-trap. The door was arranged so that it was held in position by a light pole attached to a length of stout wire, which was connected with a spring hidden under leaves on the floor of the trap. If a lion should enter and tread on the spring, the wire would be released and the door fall behind him down two grooves of corrugated iron. To entice him to enter, a live goat was placed in a compartment adjoining the trap, so strongly fenced that the bait was in no danger.